BALEARIC leader Francesc Antich confirmed yesterday that other alternatives for the national health hospital apart from Son Espases and Son Dureta, are being studied, but he did not say what they were.
He was speaking to representatives of the environmental group GOB, who had requested an audience to express their rejection of the site at Son Espases, chosen by the previous Partido Popular (PP) government.
GOB spokesman Miquel Angel March said they were delighted that the left-wing coalition government should be studying other possibilities and expressed his confidence that Son Espases would finally be rejected.
Although the left-wing parties had rejected Son Espases in their electoral manifestos, and ordered building to be stopped while they weighed up other solutions, it had seemed to be the most likely choice until last week, when it was suggested that Son Hugo, by the Son Pardo racecourse, could also be considered.
March spoke of the political and symbolic importance which the choice of site had taken on, and underlined the need for the final decision -- which the government plans to announce on October 5 -- to be in accordance with what the political parties said during the last legislature.
March said that the matter had become a symbol for Balearic society, and the hospital cannot be built in Son Espases, after this site was ruled out in the electoral programmes of the parties which now rule in the Balearics, and after so much speculation.
He pointed out that GOB had criticised the decision during the last legislature, claiming that alternative sites had not been studied.
March went on to say that GOB and other associations opposed to the Son Espases site will continue to demonstrate their opposition, adding that there will be another demo outside the city hall on Saturday.
He said he hoped it would be the last demo needed to save Son Espases and persuade the government to choose a different site.
March said that they had also spoken to Antich about the need to protect Ses Fontanelles, the most important wetland in Palma, under threat from a development project approved by the previous PP council.
The new socialist council is now studying the plans in an effort to minimise the effects of this development, and even prevent it. Antich told them that the matter would be included in the government's agenda, and said he would study it in collaboration with the city council.